Nestled in the pretty hills of High Wycombe (UK) countryside is a collection of underground tunnels with a deliciously dark and decadent history. The Hellfire Caves, or West Wycombe caves, are a man-made network of caves carved from natural chalk and flint stone, stretching over a quarter of a mile underground. The site has played host to a notorious 18th century cult and as such is associated with debauchery, orgies, ghost stories and the occult.

Sir Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Dispenser and Chancellor of the Exchequer, commissioned the caves to be dug out between 1748 and 1752. They sit directly underneath a large hill, atop which sits St. Lawrence’s church and mausoleum. All of these constructions were commissioned by Sir Francis during the same time period. Responding to extreme local poverty, Sir Francis ordered a three mile road to be built through West Wycombe and he paid local men to mine the caves for the chalk and flint. The caves are what was left behind from this “community project” and, having been dug entirely by hand, they are considered an impressive feat of engineering.

It is highly likely that it was the intention of Sir Francis to build the caves more than he intended to build roads. For he was the notorious founder of both the Society of Dilettanti and the HellFire Club, respectively. Both were gentleman’s dining clubs, but where on one hand the Society of Dilettanti was mostly concerned with funding the recreation of ancient Greek and Roman art, the Hellfire club was an orgy of sacrifice, pranks, alcohol and ceremonies based loosely on ancient paganism.

The Hellfire club, or the Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe, was the most prominent group of an underground 18th century secret movement. The club was formed from politicians and men from high society who met in secret to carry out socially unacceptable or even illegal acts. A large number of men are known to have attended these secret parties with Sir Francis, even Benjamin Franklin had been into the HellFire caves for this purpose! The motto of the club? – Fais ce que tu voudras/ Do what thou wilt. A motto which suited well these powerful men who felt they were above the law, above the monarchy, even above God. Those readers more informed about the occult will recognise that this motto was used frequently much later by the man who gave western esotericism an even worse name; Alastair Crowley.

Sir Francis was somewhat of a trickster and he loved to play pranks, even when extremely inappropriate. Whilst attending the Russian royal court in St.Petersburg, he showed up dressed as the King of Sweden who was a major enemy of Russia at the time. This masquerade element played a huge part of what went on inside the HellFire caves meetings. Guests would often attend dressed as characters from the Bible or from Greek and Roman religions. The intention of the clubs meetings, although mostly unknown, seem to focus of pleasure and indulgence. The Gods which it is known that they worshipped are Bacchus, Venus, Priapus and Daphne. These are ancient Gods and Goddesses most commonly associated with beauty, fertility and alcoholism.

It is supposed that the original HellFire club was not actually a cult, but more that they carried out a kind of mock ritual, similar to existing HellFire clubs today. Although no details have been recorded of the exact ceremonies that took place in these parties, eye witness accounts describe them as just that; parties. Wild and illegal, weird parties but parties non the less. It was common practice for the members of the club to invite large numbers of female ‘guests’ or prostitutes and have them take part in strange sex games and orgies. It has even been described that these women were made to dress up as nuns. Now, to appreciate how blasphemous this act would have been in the 1700s is incredible. These men would definitely have been executed if this joke was made public at the time so it is no wonder that they were secretive.

Another interesting fact about Sir Francis is that he actually bought a small church in Wycombe called Medmenham Abbey. He paid for very expensive renovations to take place there, including for caves to be built underneath it. He had phallic symbols carved into the walls and used the building for further club meetings. When he took over the church, he and the Earl of Sandwich released a small monkey into the congregation. The villagers fled in horror, believing they had seen the devil himself! I have no idea why these men were never arrested.

Paul Whitehead was a close personal friend of Sir Francis Dashwood and he served as the secretary and steward to the HellFire club. He was very disappointed when the HellFire club could eventually no longer meet and when he died in 1774 he requested that his heart would be placed in an urn and stored in the mausoleum above the caves. His family frequently took out the heart to show visitors, as was the English morbid curiosity in this era. Until in 1829, his heart was stolen by a visiting Australian soldier. Many visitors and staff report seeing a man in old fashioned clothes wandering the caves, searching. When approached head on the man disappears. Legend has it that this man is Paul Whitehead, searching for his missing heart. In addition to this paranormal activity, chanting is also often heard coming from the inner temple of the caves, echoing around the caverns.

For those who long for a HellFire club as much as Paul Whitehead clearly still does, you may be comforted to know that several HellFire clubs still exist to this day. Trinity College and Maynooth College both boast HellFire clubs of their own in Ireland. As does Brasenose College in Oxford, UK. These societies are very secretive and little is known of their rungs or rituals to outsiders. A swingers club called the “HellFire Club” also exists in London, although a little too much is known about what goes on at their parties, with little left to the imagination I’m sure.

Finally, the blasphemous church which was adjusted by Sir Francis all those years back; Medmenham Abbey? It is still very much in existence and in private ownership. Totally off limits to the public. One can only wonder what kind of individual would keep a building like that secret with no public access?You never know what goes on behind closed doors.